Foreign Legion

[Henry1 1]

Hello

 

I have an opportunity to apply and get a US Green Card.

There is one thing from my past that my impact, or not my visa application.

Some time in the past I served in French Foreign Legion.

Does anyone know whether this military service would negatively impact my application.

I'm not French.

 

Thank you

 

 

 

[Cyberfx1024 7,978]

1 hour ago, Henry1 said:

Hello

 

I have an opportunity to apply and get a US Green Card.

There is one thing from my past that my impact, or not my visa application.

Some time in the past I served in French Foreign Legion.

Does anyone know whether this military service would negatively impact my application.

I'm not French.

 

Thank you

No, it does not negatively affect the application at all. But they woll.want to see your discharge paperwork.

[Henry1 1]

Thanks for replying.

The thing is, I signed a 5 year contract, and served only just over 1 year.

I left on my 3 weeks holiday and never came back.

That was over 20 years ago.

I wanted to get copies of my documents from FL, I phoned them, and was asked to send an email to the address they provided, and I would get my copy.

I've done it several times, but received no reply.

I suspect they could have tried me for deserting, and there could be a record if the sentence on my FL file.

When I spoke to them over the phone, I was told nobody is looking for me at all, as every year there are so many people deserting FL for various reasons.

When I spoke over the phone with a french lawyer I was told that most likely my case went through military court and there was some sentence imposed, but after 6 years it expired.

The lawyer said I could go through a court and ask to be pardoned.

 

I applied for a criminal history check from France as I lived there for over 6 months, and it came clear.

 

What do you think about it now?

 

Thanks

 

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

There's not much you can do about that now. You will need to answer the appropriate questions on the DS260 form and send the appropriate paperwork. "They didn't answer my email" is not going to be acceptable in lieu of the documentation.

 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/the-immigrant-visa-process/collect-and-submit-forms-and-documents-to-the-nvc/step-5-collect-supporting-documents.html

 

If you served in the military of any country, you must obtain a photocopy of your military record.

• Send a photocopy of your military records to NVC.
• Bring a photocopy of your military records to your visa interview at the U.S. Embassy or Consulate.

 

Did you follow the instructions as per obtaining French military records on the DOS website? (I assume it is the same source as general French military?)

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/Visa-Reciprocity-and-Civil-Documents-by-Country/France.html

Document Name: Certificat de Position Militaire or  Etat Signaletique des Services or  Certificat individuel de participation à l’appel de preparation a la Defense or  Journée d'appel de préparation à la défense (JAPD) or  La Journée défense et citoyenneté (JDC)

Issuing Authority: Ministere de la Defense, “Bureau de Recrutement”, French Consulates/Embassies.

Special Seal(s) / Color / Format: round black/blue inked stamp seal   

Issuing Authority Personnel Title: N/A   applicants received scanned/B&W or colored documents

Registration Criteria: online at https://www.service-public.fr/

Procedure for Obtaining: applicants must follow the online instructions

 

 

---

Separately, even if you were later pardoned or otherwise had a conviction vacated, it still needs to be listed on your US immigration documents.

[databit 328]

Did you fight on the side of any US enemies? Because that will be a problem. My friend's older brother, a USC (!) who was in the FFL is permanently barred from the US for doing exactly that. He lives in France now. 

Edited July 7, 2019 by databit

[Henry1 1]

Thank you gents for replying.

 

I haven't started my application, yet, just got in touch with the immigration lawyer, who is going to be taking care of my case, I asked him what kind of documents am I going to be asked to supply, and when he mentioned that I needed to provide details and documentation of every military service I've done in my life and criminal history checks from every country I lived in for more than 6 months, an alarm bell rung in my head, and I started thinking , what about that FFL service I did all those years ago? Will it need to be declared and after realising it would have to be declared, I started thinking, this might cause some problems.

Unfortunately my immigration lawyer has never dealt with such case, so  he doesn't know what to advise me, but he said I wouldmhave to declare it

For the time being I have put it all on hold until I convince myself I won't just be wasting time and money pursuing this, just to be told, at the end, my application is going to be rejected, as immigration lawyers fees are quite steep.

That's I'm here trying to find out what other, more knowledgable people on here think about my chances to succed.

 

Just to answer your questions:

 

1. Regarding this quote " military record is available to French citizens whether or not military service has been performed." and that link you have supplied , SusieQQQ.

Thank you very much for that link, it looks like some official way of getting my FFL records, but it says it is for French citizens, which I am not, but worth trying nonetheless.

2. I was never fighting with the US' , as France is and was part of NATO, so a friendly armed forces.

All I did was spend around 6 months on a mission as a UN soldier abroad, never had shot at anybody.

I went there as a very young guy, but after realising , that at some stage I might have to shot at other people, who might be defending their country against, France, a country I had nothing to do with, emotionaly, after coming back to France from that UN mission, I decided to leave and never come back, but there was not an official way of just asking or applying to leave, as every legionaire is bound by that 5 years contract he signs at the start.

I enjoyed the life, doing a lot of sport and getting paid for it (not much), but I didn't want to support France's policies, as it wasn't my own country, and I realised, I had nothing to do with France.

 

Thanks

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

I believe you misread the notes. It says French citizens can get records even if they didn’t serve, I don’t believe it says anywhere actual military records are only for French citizens?

 

On what basis are you applying for an immigrant visa?

Edited July 8, 2019 by SusieQQQ

[Henry1 1]

I'm applying , being sponsored by a company as an employee.

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

1 hour ago, Henry1 said:

I'm applying , being sponsored by a company as an employee.

In that case, they should have an immigration lawyer who can help with this?

[Henry1 1]

Yes, they do have an immigration lawyer, but after talking to the lawyer, I could sense she was not sure what the outcome is going to be.

She even admitted, she has never come across such case.

I could sense, she wasn't too concerned about the outcome of the case, as she knew my involvement with FL will be dealt with at the end of the proceedings, when I have already paid all her fees.

No matter if my case is going to be successful or not she will get all her fees paid before hand and if it is not successful, it could always be put down to the case being unusual, or difficult, no one she knew of ever dealt with such case.

That's why I'm looking for independent advice, from someone who is not involved in this case and has no financial benefit in keeping me as a paying client.

Off course I would be happy to pay for an independent advice, if there is anybody out there who knows anything about such matters, or maybe knows anybody who dealt with a similar case.

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

27 minutes ago, Henry1 said:

Yes, they do have an immigration lawyer, but after talking to the lawyer, I could sense she was not sure what the outcome is going to be.

She even admitted, she has never come across such case.

I could sense, she wasn't too concerned about the outcome of the case, as she knew my involvement with FL will be dealt with at the end of the proceedings, when I have already paid all her fees.

No matter if my case is going to be successful or not she will get all her fees paid before hand and if it is not successful, it could always be put down to the case being unusual, or difficult, no one she knew of ever dealt with such case.

That's why I'm looking for independent advice, from someone who is not involved in this case and has no financial benefit in keeping me as a paying client.

Off course I would be happy to pay for an independent advice, if there is anybody out there who knows anything about such matters, or maybe knows anybody who dealt with a similar case.

What do you mean, when you have paid her fees? The company should be paying her fees, and any other fees for legal advice, not you. They should be the paying client, not you.

Are you sure this is a legitimate offer?  This setup with the lawyer sounds suspect to me.

Edited July 8, 2019 by SusieQQQ

[Henry1 1]

Yes, you are right, the company sponsoring should be paying all the fees, unfortunately they are not willing, as they have enough candidates wanting to be sponsored, so they told me, I needed to pay all the fees.

They also told me , so far they have 100 percent success rate and they trust the immigration lawyer they are using and they won't be changing them for anyone else.

That's why, I need to make sure I minimise all my risks, I need to make sure I understand what can go wrong and how likely it is that it can go wrong.

I have gotten myself, in advance,  all criminal history checks from all the countries I lived in for more than 6 months, I have done privately all health check required by the US embassy, that are going to be required, right before my meeting with the embassy officials, at the last stage if the whole process, so I have all these bases covered, the only thing I need to resolve is my involvement with FL.

[designguy 1,179]

1 hour ago, Henry1 said:

Yes, you are right, the company sponsoring should be paying all the fees, unfortunately they are not willing, as they have enough candidates wanting to be sponsored, so they told me, I needed to pay all the fees.

This sounds very suspicious. An employer may request an employee cover the costs for the I-140 fees however an employee MAY NOT cover the costs for the perm filing and any related fees. This includes the cost of the lawyer and any recruitment fees. If you are being requested to pay all the fees then this is not legal

 

1 hour ago, Henry1 said:

I have done privately all health check required by the US embassy,

The medical exam is only valid for 6 months and you must have entered the US prior to the expiration. As it sounds like you are in the early stages of this process your medical exam will most likely be expired prior to your visa being issued. You should wait at least until you have an NVC case number and even more realistically wait until you have an interview date at the embassy prior to doing your medical.

[Henry1 1]

Yes, you are right, unfortunately the employer is not willing to cover these costs, it is basically, take it or leave it.

Yes, I am aware that medical exam is only valid for 6 months and should only be done right before the last stage, before the visit at the US embassy, to have your visa approved.

As I wrote earlier, I only did the medical examination tor myself, to make sure all was fine with me, so to make sure that I would not be rejected at the last stage, after paying all these fees.

If I went with this sponsoring offer, I would need to get all these medical examinations done, right before my embassy visit, provided I got successfully to that stage.

[SusieQQQ 11,584]

Sounds like a scam to me.